Lots of kids this morning? Wonderful. We're in Luke's Gospel, chapter 2. Chapter 2. What a pleasure to open the Bible week by week and hear from heaven. And as we go, we're learning the Word. We're hearing what God says to us. I'm glad he spoke, because without his speaking we don't have revelation, but he has spoken, he has given us information concerning what He has done. And we see that today in our passage of Scripture there in Luke 2, the birth of Jesus and then the revelation that came to the shepherds on that night that Christ was born. Now, we've read this. I know it's... in some cases, a family tradition. We'll open the Bible to Luke 2 and someone will read it, read the Christmas story. It's a good thing to open it any time of year and to read and to begin to grasp the gift that God has given. And then how he went about the whole ordeal, and then the revelation, specifically the revelation that he brought to the shepherds. So I think what we'd like to do is we'll read from verse 1 all the way through verse 20, and then we'll get into it. There's a couple of things here that I had not seen before and I'm really excited to share with you because it gives us a great picture of our God, who He is and what He does. So, verse 1, we'll read the 20 verses here before us. The Christmas story. Luke chapter 2, verse 1. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior. who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.' And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known this saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb." The word of the Lord. Father in heaven, this indeed is a spiritual exercise. Your Word tells us that your Word should be preached, and that when preached, it will edify, it will build up, it will instruct, it will inspire, it will help. And Lord, we need your help. So, in the next few minutes, give us understanding and make application to our hearts that we would be built up in the faith, that we would be drawn into a closer walk with you. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. So, it is interesting that there were some things known of the Roman government. The Roman Empire is ruling the world, the known world in that day. And we have this emperor, his name is Caesar or King Augustus. And it was not unusual for the Caesar or the king of Rome to be referred to as a savior. So there's one thing. And then Rome, of course, was known for the pox, the Roman pox, the Roman peace. This was a piece that they were known for. They would conquer people and then they would work with the people. We see it right here in this text. Caesar Augustus declares or makes a decree that the world should be registered, registered for tax. The people would be enrolled. And immediately that sets things in motion. So, Caesar makes this decree over the known world and people begin to move around. The Jews would follow their own custom of taxation. So Caesar says it's time for a census, it's time to be enrolled. And then the Jews had their spin, their little twist on it. And for a Jew, they would go back to their ancestral city. That's why Mary and Joseph were going back to Bethlehem. So we have the Roman peace. We have the Roman emperor who was a so-called savior. We have this policy of Rome that was known as, you'll like this, the good news. You're hearing good news from the Roman government. Any policy, any kind of law that they would make, they would consider it good news. So good news for everyone. And then right in the midst of this, We have this beautiful story of really a kingdom that eclipsed the Roman Empire, a higher kingdom, a holier kingdom. We have a peace that would eclipse the peace of Rome. We have the Lord intervening in real time because Luke says in those days, And this is established in history, that this was a decree that was made, and that people did begin to move here and there to enroll for the tax. Now, we move down here into verse 6. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Now, we're talking about the birth of God's Son. And that's what we have. It came time for her to give birth. And then verse 7, And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes. I love the translation of the Bible that gives us the idea of swaddling. Babies are swaddled by their moms and their dads. And I want you to see something. Let's go to Job. Go all the way back to Job. Say, well, what does Job have to do with swaddling? Well, Job 38 and verse 8. We have this picture of God. Now, remember, Job undergoes a lot of trials and tribulations. He gets a lot of advice from his friends, and Job has some things to say, and then God speaks. I love chapter 38, 39, and 40 of the book of Job because it's God speaking. And never, never, make no mistake, God always has a last word. Always. But I love this picture of God. He's asking Job, He's just asking him questions, just rattling off questions. And we get to this verse 8. He says, "...or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? When I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band." Its swaddling band. So, the picture here is of the Lord, who is high and holy, He is the Creator of all things, and He oversees His creation. And in these verses, it says that He swaddles the ocean. How do you like that for a picture of our great God? The Lord swaddles the ocean. What does that mean? He keeps it in its place. He says, look at this, He says, "...and prescribed limits for it, and set bars and doors, and said, Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed." And isn't that what it swaddles for, is to keep that infant? Secure and in one place, basically. And we see the Lord doing that with the ocean right there in Job 38, 8 through 11. We have the Lord swaddling the ocean. Then in Luke 2, we've got Mary swaddling our Lord. That kind of struck me as I was studying that this swaddling is God's care for us, the swaddling of His Son. And then His Son grows, and He is our Savior, and now we are kept in His care. He cares about us. Well, let's get to the shepherd part. Right there, in the same region, there were shepherds. Now, shepherds were downtrodden and despised. Most people looked at a shepherd in that day, they would equate them with, well, being a thief. They're just good for nothing, and they had no real religious training. Well, I wonder why that would be. Well, they were watching sheep. They were people associated with these filthy animals and not very smart animals, but their job was to watch out for these animals, look out for them, see to their safety, make sure no predators or thieves took the animals away. And so, no sooner is Jesus born, And he's all swaddled up by his mom. The Bible says in the same region there were shepherds out in the field. Now, there's a shepherd's field, they say, a couple miles from Bethlehem. They think maybe that's the place. They were definitely in a field and they're watching sheep. Bible says they're keeping watch over their flock by night. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there it is in verse 9, An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear." And that's no surprise that these shepherds would be filled with great fear, because when God reveals Himself, this is the normal response. Great fear. An angel speaks to them. And then there's a response. So we have basically three points. We've got the appearance of the angel. Then we've got the announcement of the angel. And then we've got the departure of the angels. So we'll focus on that this morning. First, the appearance. Shepherds out in the field. It's nighttime. It's probably a night like most other nights that they're out there watching over their sheep. And the Bible tells us that an angel of the Lord appeared to them. Now, we've already had angel sightings in the book of Luke. An angel appeared to Zacharias, told him about the birth of John the Baptist. An angel appeared to Mary. Well, here, We have an angel appearing to shepherds. People, I think most people in that day would not think that shepherds really would have deserved an angel appearance. Shepherds weren't good enough. They weren't smart enough. They weren't religious enough. Those are the last people that anyone would have thought an angel of the Lord would appear to them. Nevertheless, Luke's done his homework. Luke knows what he's talking about. He's writing these facts and he's bringing meaning to what God is doing. And he says this angel of the Lord appeared to the The shepherds, and there it is, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and we believe this is nothing less than the Shekinah glory of God shining and brightening and lighting up that night sky on the night that Jesus was born. And so we need to associate the birth of Jesus with the glory that was displayed in the heavens. That the glory is displayed because heaven is happy over the birth of this Jesus. The angel appeared, the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear." So these shepherds obviously have never seen such a sight, and they are filled with fear. I could see them in my mind's eye, just cowering away from the brilliance of the sky and the angel. But that's not all. There's the appearance right there. And this glory of the Lord has to do with the majesty of God. It has to do with the rule of God, that he is the regal authority, not only of heaven, but of earth. And the birth of Jesus brought about this great glory in the sky, right in front of these shepherds. Then the announcement. Folks, it just gets better. The announcement, the angel said to them, now listen, I think this is important. You know, if you did not know Mary and Joseph and their backstory, it wouldn't look like any other story. It'll look like any other birth. Well, there's a man. There's a pregnant woman, she's given birth. From a human perspective, right? If you don't know the backstory, that's what it looks like. Any other birth. But that's why the angel is gonna speak up here. The Lord wants the angel to communicate what this meant, what the birth of Christ means. That's why it's so important for us to open our Bible and hear the words of the angel, right here in verse 10. And the angel said to them, fear not. I like how they deal with the great fear that was gripping those shepherds. Fear not, for behold, I bring you great news. I bring you good news of great joy. So whatever they're about to hear, it's good news and it brings great joy. He says that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day." Another translation is, is born today. It's one of Luke's favorite words, today. For unto you is born this day, today in the city of David, there it is, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Unto you, shepherds, this gift is for you, the despised and the downtrodden. You folks that spend all your time working with these filthy animals. You never have time to go to the synagogue or the temple. This Savior is for you. And in Luke's way of thinking, each one of us should identify with those shepherds. We know better than those shepherds. We're no more deserving than those shepherds. There's good news for those shepherds at that time and that day. There's good news for you and I at this time in our day. And that good news, that great joy is that there is born. a Savior for us, who is Christ the Lord. Now, look at that in your Bible. Right there in verse 11, this seldom happens, that you see those three descriptions of Jesus in one sentence, let alone verse or chapter. In fact, I think this is the only time in the New Testament you see these three together. Notice, he says, This infant that is born is a savior. Now, in that day, they would think of a savior as someone who would save them from an enemy, or someone that would save them from a disease, a savior, someone who could really make it happen. There's trouble, you're about to be swallowed up by your enemy, or you're about to be eaten up by a disease or a disorder. Well, what do you need for that? Well, those in the minds of those folks back then and there, you need a savior. You need someone who can do something about it. You need someone who can intervene on your behalf, because if someone doesn't intervene on your behalf, you will be consumed by your enemy. You will be taken down and out by that disease. And so the good news of great joy is that we have a Savior. And this Savior is embodied in an infant, Jesus, the incarnate Son of the living God. And he goes on to describe the Savior. He is the Christ. He's the anointed one. He is the Messiah. He's the one that some of y'all been looking for. He is here. That's good news. This is not for another time, another place. This is for the here and the now. And the benefits that the Savior brings last forever. And He is the Christ. He is the Anointed One. He is of the lineage of David. He will rule on the throne of David forever and ever. This Jesus, this Christ. And then, even more astounding than the terms referring to Jesus as Savior and Christ, is the term there, Lord. He is Lord. He is not just Savior. He is not just the Anointed One. He is Lord of all. Our Jesus, that infant in that time, Savior, Christ, and Lord. Well, he goes on, that's not the end of the message. The angel continues, he says, and this will be a sign for you. So these shepherds, they need help. They're getting clarification on a birth, right? Okay, so birth has taken place, there's an infant out there somewhere, close by, and the angel goes on and says, this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Okay, that's encouraging. So they're gonna go on a search in a little bit, but we have some more revelation, verse 13, and suddenly, There was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, so let's deal with this. All of a sudden, so there's one angel and in a moment, in a blink of an eye, suddenly that angel is accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly host and the term there is a military term. So it's like a battalion of angels show up with the one angel, and they're all there. They're the heavenly host, and they're praising God, and they're speaking to God, and their Sakana glory is is just brightening up the night sky and they're praising God and this is what they're saying. So this is the multitude saying this in verse 14, glory to God in the highest. So this birth is bringing glory to God. All heaven is bursting forth with joy over the birth of Jesus Christ, who is our Savior, our Christ, and our Lord. Glory to God in the highest, in the highest heaven and on earth, peace among those with whom He is And that ends the message. All this praise to God brought by this multitude of the heavenly host, they're praising God, they're speaking, they're shouting with great joy and brightness shining illuminating the heavens. How would you like to have been a shepherd on that night? Right there. So let's look at verse 14. This verse has been used and abused through the years. Somehow or other, folks have extrapolated from this verse some kind of universalism or some kind of man-meriting salvation. But that's not what it says. It says, Glory to God in the highest, so all the glory to God, and on earth, peace. What kind of peace is he talking about there? A lot of times around Christmas time, you'll get the card and it'll say this, on earth peace. So when we think about peace on earth, what are we thinking about? Some people think about just the absence of war or strife, especially around Christmas time. And I would suggest that's not a bad idea, but that's not what this peace is. This peace and on earth peace, this is an infant, So this suggests, verse 14, that the infant is gonna bring this peace. It's gonna bring glory to God. So, and on earth peace, the Greek word there is Irenae, peace among those with whom he is pleased. So this is telling us that God intends to bring peace to those whom he favors. It's not necessarily all men, it's those for whom God has acted in grace and mercy. I looked this verse up in some different translations. KJV says, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. That's pretty close to the age-old translation, goodwill among men. and on earth peace, goodwill among men. And somehow people think, well, if you're just good to someone else, and there's this peace, harmony, kind of a superficial, earthly, worldly, natural peace, not that that's a bad thing, but it's not the main thing. And then the Christian Standard Bible, Really good translation, and peace on earth to people he favors. Huh. That's good. So the literal translation would be, and peace on earth to those upon whom God's favor rests. Peace on earth to those upon whom God's favor rests. So that's suggestive of God's free choice of those who will be saved. Yeah, the good news is for all people, but the benefit of God's peace is for those upon whom His favor rests. Well, what about this peace? Well, remember we read from Romans a while ago, Romans 5, we were talking about being reconciled. The whole idea is that man is lost in sin and in rebellion against the Holy God. That's how it all starts. We're lost in sin and in rebellion against the Holy God. In fact, Paul puts it like this, he says, we were enemies of God. We were going our own way, doing our own thing, and we were considered enemies of God, and as enemies of God, we are under the wrath of God. In fact, Paul says in Romans that we as believers are saved from the wrath of God, having been reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus. So this peace means that we're on friendly terms now with God. We've received Jesus, our Savior, our Christ, our Lord. And because we've received Him, we have peace. We have this Irenae that he's talking about here in verse 14. We have peace. There's peace between us and God. Jesus bore our sin on the cross. He took our sin away. And in receiving Jesus, we're forgiven of all of our sin. We pass out of death and into life. And we have this peace, but it doesn't stop there. When there's peace between you and God, it means Not only that you have salvation, but you have every blessing that salvation affords in this life and beyond. All the blessings of God are communicated to his children through Jesus Christ, who is our peace. So, Say I were to come up to you and say, peace. I would intend that to mean blessings on you, brother, sister, child of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And there is no other way to walk in His blessing other than that the peace of God, would be established between you and the Lord through Jesus Christ. And that in that peace, you are walking in the place of blessing from God. We have peace with God through Jesus. Now we're afforded all the blessings of life, spiritual blessings, as well as physical blessings through him. That's what that means. Point three, you thought I'd never get there. We're at point three. We're looking for a place to land. Verse 15, when the angels went away from them into heaven. You know, this third point was really a stumper for me. I couldn't figure out what my third point was going to be. Have you ever been there? I mean, just thinking, what in the world is my third point going to be? I couldn't figure it out. I had the appearance, I had the announcement, I was looking for another A word. I was looking high and low and I couldn't figure it out. Finally, the Lord said, it's right there in front of you. It usually is right there. When the angels went away. End of story, right? Not so fast. And this is the big point of this message. The Lord speaks from heaven. Now, what are you going to do? The Lord reveals himself. He clarifies what's going on by his angels. There's a kind of glory all around. I wonder what those shepherds would do. I wonder what you and I will do when we hear such good news. I wonder what we do with the truth that God has given us. Because I guess you could have just put a period there in verse 15, when the angels went away from them into heaven. Period. End of story. But it's not the end of the story. Because what the Lord did was set off a chain reaction of events in the earth. among downtrodden and despised people. He started with these shepherds. Some call them the first evangelists. I mean, think about the options. Okay, they're out there, they see this night sky light up, they hear the angels. The angels go away, back to work. No? And what are you going to do with what God shows you? That's a big deal. And these shepherds are a great example for all of us. Look at this. They began talking to one another. Golly. Well, it was a little more than that. Look at this. Let us. So they're not looking for the alpha shepherd here. Let us. We're together here. Let us do what? Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened. Let's go check it out. Let's go. Bup, bup, bup. Look at all these sheep. Those are filthy animals. The Lamb of God is born not too far from here. Let's go see Him. And notice, they know it comes from the Lord, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went, how'd they go? They went with haste. They didn't wait around. They didn't mess around. They didn't take a vote. They went. And they found what they were looking for. They found Mary and Joseph and a baby. Remember the angel said, here's your sign, here's your sign. There's going to be a baby lying in a manger. And they found Mary, Joseph and a baby lying in a manger. Well, I wonder what happens then? What are they going to do then? The Bible tells us, and when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning the child. So they remembered what that angel and those angels said, and they began to make it known to those in that vicinity, in that neighborhood. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. So there's three responses. to the message that's going out from these shepherds. The first is wonder. Just sheer wonder at what God is doing. And then verse 19, we see a contrast because there's that word, that conjunction right there at the beginning of verse 19, but. So some are wondering, wow, that's about all they can say is wow, but there's a contrast, Mary, held up or treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. What does that mean? She treasured it up. She's thinking about it. She's pondering. She's trying, as we would say, to connect the dots. She's trying to figure it out. She's trying to put the pieces together. What is God doing? What is the impact of this birth? Who is this infant? Putting it all together, that's what she's doing. In direct contrast to those who heard and simply, wow, wondered. We're to hold Mary in higher esteem than those who wondered? And we are to be like Mary who treasured these things, who valued these things, who embraced these things, who lived these things and walked these things and died believing these things. We're to be like her. But there's another response. Verse 20, And the shepherds returned. I wonder what their frame of mind was. Were they disappointed? Did they feel like it was a waste of time? Well, let's read. And the shepherds returned. What were they doing? Glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. So they heard it and they saw it. They heard it and they saw it as it had been told them. Those blessed shepherds who stand in stark contrast, remember? Herod heard about the birth, because remember the wise men showed up over in Matthew 2, and he heard about the birth. And what did he do? He called all the religious leaders. And he said, what's going on here? And they said, Micah 5.2, that's what's going on. It's Micah 5.2, chapter and verse. There's gonna be a baby Jesus born. And Herod had ulterior motives. He wanted to kill. He didn't want a rival king. And these shepherds that didn't have one bit of religious education, lifestyle, what have you, They were given the great glory of God in the night sky and they were educated in a moment. And they did what no Pharisee would do. They went and found the Christ child while those Pharisees would not walk five miles to even investigate whether or not it was true. Even with wise men standing around. So what do we do? with what God's done. If you've never received Jesus, it's simple. Repent and believe. Believe the good news of Jesus Christ, that you don't have to be an enemy of God anymore, that He died to establish a friendship between us and God. And all that based on His blood. And when we believe Him, we have peace with God. And then are you walking? Are you walking in a way that you value spiritual things? You value the Word of God. You're like Mary, treasuring up all these things in your heart. You're learning more and more. You're growing spiritually. That's the point of the message, the response to what God has done. Father in heaven, thank you for this day. Thank you for the time together. And I pray, God, specifically for my brothers and my sisters in Christ. I pray, God, you would stir their hearts. I pray, God, that they would walk in the fullness of your blessing on their lives. And Lord, for all of us, you'd make us more aware of your presence and your activity, even in these days. And we'll give you the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Please stand and turn to me.